2PM: NO.5 album review

Sexy – that’s what this album is. I’ve never liked a 2PM album this much – in fact, this is the first 2PM album that I’ve listened to without feeling the need to skip tracks.

True to its title track, it’s the type of music you put on when you invite someone over to your house when you, well, get into the mood. It’s full of Jazz, R&B and Soul goodness, with the occasional club banger. It’s also great because it’s the album with the most involvement from the members in terms of composition and writing so far, but it’s also obvious from this release that the boys’ music is very much influenced by Park Jin Young. Even though our favourite CEO isn’t credited for composing or lyric-writing in any of the songs, we still can feel the JYP presence – we don’t even need the whisper.

The title track, ‘My House’ was composed and written by who else, but Jun.K. I’ve been really impressed with Jun.K’s works – his solo stuff were not bad too. The song starts out simple, with accelerating clock ticking, then guitar and simple beats which then build up to the chorus. The ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ drop after the first chorus was a little weird to me at first, but after a few listens, it does start to feel cohesive with the rest of the song, and adds a bit a quirk in this flirtatious track. Towards the end, a there is the typical stripping of most of the accompaniment for the first half of the last chorus before going full out for the rest of the song, which is something that always works.

The other track written and co-composed by Jun.K is ‘Your Man’ (not to be confused with the previously released ‘I’m Your Man’), which in my opinion is title track material – it’s really groovy and catchy, and the harmonies and ad-libs towards the end of the song are really effective in bringing the song to its climax. Also, Taecyeon‘s rap here is just really, really sexy. What’s with having the line ‘you don’t wanna waste your time’ in the raps for both ‘My House’ and ‘Your Man’ though?

Speaking of Taecyeon, the rapper co-wrote and co-composed three songs, all of which happen to be the most upbeat on the album – ‘Going Crazy’ (again, not to be confused with their previous single ‘Go Crazy!’), ‘Magic’ and ‘Jump’. ‘Going Crazy’ retains the grooviness that is pretty consistent throughout the album, but the synths and the occasional quadruple digital bass drum beats scattered throughout the track reflects the title well.

‘Magic’, a big band track, starts out strong with a brass section, more specifically the lower brass, complete with a snare-heavy drum accompaniment. The addition of staccato synths and upper brass as the track continued created an effective build up and kept it interesting without losing its energy – that is, until right at the end. I love this track but I wish it ended as strong as it started. ‘Jump’, as its name suggests, is the club banger in this album. It probably sounds out of place, but since it comes after ‘Magic’ which has pretty strong beats as well, it does not break the flow of the album.

If there was a member who surprised me most in terms of writing and composing though, it would be Chansung. The maknae also participated in the production process of three tracks, all of which are the more mellow songs. ‘You’re Hotter Than Summer’ sounds sexy, but the lyrics are more innocent than I thought they’d be. ‘Wanna Love You Again’ and ‘Good Man’ both take influences from old school R&B ballads. I especially love the latter – that staccato guitar, that saxophone ad-lib!

‘Nobody Else’ written and co-composed by Junho, is also a jam. I like how Jun.K’s and Taecyeon’s raps differ in delivery – the former is slightly quirky while the latter leans towards being sexy. ‘Hallucination’ is one of the more upbeat tracks on the album which talks about not being to forgot and ex-lover and seeing her everywhere.

‘Red’ is as passionate as its title – ‘I want to write a love poem on your body with my lips’, and I especially love the part where there’s a pause in music accompaniment and Taecyeon goes ‘I want you baby’ with that low voice of his. ‘Know Your Mind’ is not bad too, but is not as memorable as some of the other songs in the album.

2PM’s not a group that I go gaga over, but they are one of the few groups, much like how I feel about BEAST, who I really appreciate in terms of their musical growth – their concept, involvement in songwriting, and betterment of themselves as musicians. Given how R&B songs and ballads tend to sit well with the general public in Korea, I’m surprised that the album’s not doing very well digitally. While some might say that the group’s glory days are over, I’d prefer to think of it as them really wanting to do the style of music that they want, and I think 2PM definitely deserves more recognition for their efforts invested in this album.

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